Dec. 22, 2009

Box Score

Allendale, Mich. - Grand Valley State overcame a five-point halftime deficit on Tuesday night (Dec. 22) before outscoring visiting Olivet by 13 points in the second half and coming away with a 66-58 victory over the Comets. The Lakers overpowered Olivet to the tune of a 40-12 edge in points in the paint and GVSU forced 16 Comet turnovers.

The victory puts the Lakers at 6-3 on the year and winners of two straight games heading into the holidays. Olivet, a Division III institution, falls to 4-5 on the season. The two teams hadn't played each other since 1989 with Grand Valley State evening the all-time series at 2-2.

GVSU took a quick 9-3 lead early behind six straight points from junior guard/forward Justin Ringler, who split a pair of free throws, made a layup, and drained a three-pointer. Olivet rallied to tie the score at 15-15, took its first lead at 22-20 and extended the advantage to 25-20 on a three-pointer from guard Joe Post. A pair of free throws from freshman point guard Breland Hogan cut a seven-point deficit to 33-28 as the teams went into halftime.

Olivet shot slightly better than the Lakers in the first half, knocking down 40.6 percent (13-of-32) of its shots, while GVSU made 38.5 percent (10-of-26) of its attempts. However, the Comets drained 6-of-9 three-pointers for a 66.7 percent clip from downtown, while Grand Valley State was just 1-of-7 from long range. GVSU owned an 18-6 edge in points in the paint, but Olivet recorded a 11-3 advantage in second chance points.

At the start of the second half, Grand Valley State scored the first nine points, which coupled with Hogan's free throws at the end of the first half, equaled an 11-0 run and a 37-33 lead. Junior forward Toreau Brown made a jumper in the paint, freshman Tony Peters scored on a layup, Brown followed with a layup, then put together an old-fashioned three-point play, making a layup and the ensuing free throw. The nine GVSU points were scored in less than a minute and a half and the Lakers were back in the game.

The Comets rallied back and tied the score at 42-42 and neither team would push ahead by more than two points until the four-minute mark. With the score tied at 51-51, junior Mike Przydzial scored on a layup, sophomore Wes Trammell knocked down a jumper on the fast break and Przydzial answered an Olivet dunk with another layup for a 57-53 lead. The Comets split a pair of free throws and Ringler responded with his second three-pointer. Przydzial added another layup and sophomore guard Alvin Storrs connected on a pair of free throws, pushing GVSU's advantage up to 64-54 with 80 seconds remaining.

Grand Valley State would close the game out from that point and ending up shooting 41.8 percent from the floor, holding Olivet to a 38.9 percent clip. The Comets did make eight three-pointers, but GVSU made 18 free throws - including 11-of-13 in the second half - to help put the game away. Forcing 16 Olivet turnovers, the Lakers turned the ball over just nine times. Of course, the big key for Grand Valley State was the 40-12 advantage in the paint, mainly from Brown and Przydzial.

Leading all scorers was Brown, who tallied 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field. He made 3-of-4 attempts at the line and did his scoring damage in just 23 minutes, due to foul trouble. Ringler finished with 18 points, seven rebounds, and a season-best four assists, while making 2-of-3 three-point attempts.

Starting for the second consecutive game, Przydzial notched 11 points and tied his career-high with nine rebounds. He rejected two shots and has five blocks in his last two games. Przydzial shot 5-of-7 from the field and a season-high two steals and his first two assists of the year. Storrs scored eight points off the bench, making 6-of-8 free throw attempts.

The Lakers' 2009 schedule is complete, as they will return to action in 2010 at Lake Erie on Jan. 2. GVSU will take on the Storm at 7:00 p.m. in Painesville, Ohio.